It came from my dream but wasn’t the last thing that happened—the last thing was a scream.

What I woke up to was the first sight, from the mountain, looking down on the causeway leading to the wooded part of the island.

Rain on the window, sun rising, and me wondering again what all those buildings were…

I’ve never had a dream so vivid.

It began as a wonder and ended as a mystery I can’t seem to solve.

~~~

It’s morning after a really bad storm.

I’m preparing for a visit to the market.

Going down the mountain path to Zal’s outdoor grocery and wondering again about the buildings on the causeway—rose up so fast, so many, the smoke being the surest indicator of some vast amount of activity.

Zal greets me with a nod toward the strange goings-on and the words, “More today. So weird and a bit scary…”

“So are they the same people? And, how do they build so fast?”

“Questions to ponder as you cook these squash tonight?

“Nice… so orange…”

“Yellow if this strange light blows off.”

“Oh…”

I finish shopping, trek back toward my home up the path and greet Solan.

“Hoy, my friend, out early, eh?”

“I have some grim work ahead. Beslin and his gang convinced me to join them—make a trip down to investigate.”

“You’re going down there!?”

“Just about time, eh? Starting to look like the building’s about to move up the mountain.”

“Oh, my, I hadn’t noticed…”

~~~

I decided to cook the squash with eggs for breakfast.

Sat afterward thinking the morning away…

The folks down on the flat part of the island had always been different.

We were farming and small manufacture people, they were—divergent…

We used to go down and mingle—had a lively trade in food and implements—until they’d begun to make a lot more of their own food (mostly bland unless you added the intense spices they’d invented—always made me sick…) and their implements became gadgets we didn’t understand and found no use for.

Plus, they “made” their food, didn’t really grow it—sure, they used the earth but added things that “improved” it.

And, the gadgets were all about gabbing with each other, watching each other—seemed they never had a quiet moment to really savor life…

Eventually, our trade with them stopped.

The last news anyone brought back from the flatlands was that they had mechanical carts that zipped around on hard streets and a huge lot of them had moved into the woods at the far end of the island and reverted to a savage lifestyle…

~~~

Solan came by in the afternoon and asked me to go with them on their investigation.

I decided to only go as far as the top of the cliffs—watched them climb down and noticed there was a group of flatlanders approaching them…

They talked for about twenty minutes and then got into the flatlanders’ motorized carts and drove into the swelter of the buildings.

~~~

I know some of this tale may seem inconsistent but it was a dream—though, vivid as hell…

~~~

As the sun began to set, I saw one of the carts approach the cliff and Solan get out—just Solan…

He climbed up to my position and slumped down on a flat rock.

“You should be glad you didn’t go with us.”

“Where are the others?”

“Decided to stay.”

“Why?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you…”

~~~

Solan eventually did tell me, after I got him home and made him eat.

Incredible…

The other men had all been taken away by women—not unwillingly—and, every time Solan tried to find out what they were up to, his “host” would only say, “Having Fun!”.

I didn’t mention—Solan was a very old man, but a man with a head on his shoulders.

He persisted, as he was led around, trying to find out about his fellows—even, often, allowed to talk to them on small devices—but, none of what he heard made sense.

There was also no sense in what he himself was seeing.

Masses of people scurrying around, engaged in who knows what—some must have been engaged in work since there were so many things on sale—mostly all devices to talk on or play games on or watch moving pictures on of other people talking and playing games…

There were a lot of folks running around on what seemed very important tasks and some of the viewing screens in the buildings showed people involved in meetings where they mostly complained about other people who they said were trying to—how did he say it?—“…trying to imperil our civilization with undemocratic schemes.”

Then, there were the military types, all getting ready to go on missions into the forests to find traitors trafficking with savages…

By the time Solan got to the end of his tale, we were both worn out and called it a day.

I couldn’t sleep.

For one thing, the smoke rising from the flatland was getting blacker and was starting to affect my breathing.

And, they had some kind of lights all over down there—bright—intense, really—a sick sort of bluish-green.

As the sun rose, I found myself walking down toward the cliffs but had to stop about a thousand feet away—the flatlanders were there, building more of their buildings, right up and over the cliffs!

Massive carts with motors, digging and constructing…

I hurried back up and ran into Zal.

She was packing up her vegetables and shouting to her friends: “Hurry, take everything you can, up to the pass and over the peak!”

I tried to talk to her but she rushed off screaming…

~~~

That’s when I woke up.

I looked at the clock and realized I was nearly late for work.

I hurried through my shower, dressed, and drove off—out of my gated community—toward the city—the dream unrolling from that first image as the car seemed to drive itself, and me wondering what in the hell the dream could mean………

I do think this may be my favourite Friday Fantasy so far – I loved the way the dream becomes a kind of reality, then a dream again with a rising climax until Zal decides to flee from the encroaching development. We realise, of course, at the end, that the writer is actually caught in the same nightmare he had envisaged, behind the ‘gated community’ – while at the same time being a part of the problem itself. The theme of this story so perfectly captures our own growing fears and suspicions that our modern world may be really out of control – some of us can see buildings crawling up the hill in our own neighbourhoods:-)